The Doctor's Apprentice
by DaydreamerNightwriter
Summary: A history student meets a strange man in her Professor's office, and is bemused when she continues to bump into him, until he realises that she may be able to help him save the past
1. Chapter 1

First attempt at anything Doctorfied... just thought I'd try it. Don't own any of it, it's all the lovely beeb and rtd's! Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. Oh it's going to get historical, I'm a history student and thought I'd start off on home turf to be safe. I will try to be as accurate as possible, well as far as you can be when the Doctor's involved! C xxx

Lilith Meredith Grainger was an ordinary student. She had an ordinary family, was an ordinary age, was studying for an ordinary degree, and was, in her opinion, terribly ordinary in appearance. It was however this belief that gave off the allure that so many others noted as extraordinary. She wore ordinary clothes, nothing that made her stand out amongst the others, wore her hair daily in an ordinary ponytail. There was nothing except her opinion of herself that made her stand out. Amongst the crowds on the Uni forecourt.

Yes, Lilith Meredith Grainger was an ordinary girl in an ordinary world. A world that was rapidly changing around her. He came in a blaze of light, a crash of waves and a crescendo from the skies. It awoke her in her small university rooms and she stood at her window trying to spot what had woken her. The light and thunder had stopped and it was pitch black outside so she turned away and went back to bed.

The next morning everything in the bay was normal. There was no sign that anything odd had happened the night before. She dressed, grabbed up the books on her desk and hurried to a meeting with her lecturer, barely noticing the oddity outside the entrance to her building. A blue phone box sat unobtrusively next to the door to her department, waiting for someone to come back. She rushed past it, late for the meeting. She got there and, having glanced worriedly at her watch, knocked twice. She stepped back surprised as the door swung open.

"Hello?" she called, pushing the door a little further open, just enough that she could peep and see the desk. She stopped on the threshold as she saw the man leaning over the desk. "You're not Professor Hargreaves." She said quietly. The man looked up and then straightened. The first thing she noticed was that he was very smartly dressed, although the trench coat was a little old fashioned. He was quite handsome, with mischievous eyes and a quirky mouth. The mouth spread into a smile as he registered her. Something in that smile and that look made her blush ever so slightly and she looked away quickly, then looked back as he spoke.

"Oh, hello, sorry no, I'm not. I'm not really sure where he is, I could really do with some help with something." He frowned and put down the strange metallic item he was holding, moving towards her he offered her his hand. "I'm…" he paused, speaking and talking, as one hand reached into his pocket, she stiffened thinking it was a gun and that she'd walked into a murder scene. She relaxed again as the hand re-emerged with a black leather wallet, rather like a passport holder. He flipped it open and she saw a glimpse of white paper with a smudge of writing on it. He sighed, "No point in that, probably won't work on a history student anyway." He smiled and took a step closer, offering her his hand again. "I'm the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" she raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Doctor of what, exactly? And I didn't catch your name." She shifted her bundle of books in her arms and accepted his hand.

"Just the Doctor, doctor of absolutely anything, I'm almost brilliant me." Another smile, this one much more mischievous as if he were testing her. She cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, only almost?" she glanced around. "Do you know where Professor Hargreaves is? I was suppose to be having a meeting with him."

"No, no I haven't seen him. It's a pity, I was hoping to see him…" he trailed off, glancing at the books on the desk. "If you see him, can you tell him I dropped by, borrowed some books and will bring them back, soon."

"Soon?"

"Yes, yes, he'll know when I mean. No I'd better get moving. Thank you for that." He scooped up a couple of books and tucked them into pockets on the inside of his dark beige trench coat, giving her a better glimpse of the blue striped suit beneath. He left the room, going past her with his coat swooshing as if it had nothing in the pockets. She heard him stop in the corridor and turn back. His head reappeared round the door. "Hello again." He grinned, showing perfect white teeth in an infectious smile. "I didn't get your name."

"Lilith, I'm Lilith."

"Lilith? Wow, that's, a little mean of your parents."

"Well, I prefer Meredith, but people still call me Lilith."

"Lilith Meredith? Oh, well, that just slips off the tongue, lots of th's. Well nice to meet you Lilith Meredith. I'm the Doctor." And with that he vanished. She leaned out of the door and looked either way, expecting to see him so that she could tell him that he'd already said that. The words were out of her mouth before she realised that he wasn't there, just a confused looking first year.

"Sorry, I didn't think I said anything." The girl stammered.

"No, I didn't mean you." Meredith said. She went back in the office and then called out to the student as she passed. "Have you seen Professor Hargreaves?"

"No, I haven't not since yesterday in a lecture." The girl came into the office. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure. I can't wait for him though." She scribbled a note, put her books on her shelf and left, slipping past the girl.

Although she didn't know it, Lilith Meredith Grainger's life had already started to change, to become a little less ordinary.

She thought little of her meeting with the Doctor throughout the rest of her day; she had plenty to do, lectures and research. She went home that night and didn't even think of it when she wrote in her diary. It wasn't until the next day that she thought about him, when she bumped into him in the library. She didn't even notice until he spoke, so absorbed was she in looking for a specific book on William Marshal, she knew it was there, she'd seen it a few days ago.

"Hello! Lilith Meredith isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, that's me." She said absently. "What can I… oh it's you." She finally noticed him. "The Doctor. What are you doing here?"

"Well the books I borrowed from Andrew weren't a lot of help, so I took them back and came to have a look around in here." He glanced at the books she was carrying. "Incidentally, I think those may be what I'm looking for. Also," he looked at her intently, "have you seen Andrew, Professor Hargreaves I mean, since yesterday?"

"No, I haven't. Why are you looking for him, and what are you doing with _that_ book? I've been searching for that." She said snatching the book from his hands. She leafed through its pages as he frowned at her.

"He's an old friend. Tell me, what are you studying?"

"History, of course, I would have thought that would be fairly obvious."

"Oh, well, yes I suppose it is. And you're looking at medieval England and Wales in particular?"

"Yes, the Marshal family. It is rather an interesting tale."

"Yes, yes. That's why you're studying with Professor Hargreaves." He seemed somewhat distracted. "I'm sorry, but I really do need that book. Just for five minutes." Before she could protest he'd taken it back and was headed for one of the private workrooms. She thought about following him, but then decided it was foolish to go after him. She sat at a desk nearby and pretended to read whist watching the door. He came back in less than 5 minutes and dropped it in her lap. "Done." He started to walk away, paused and turned. "Lilith Meredith? Keep an eye out for the Professor. Something isn't quite as it should be."

It was several weeks later when she was awakened by that crescendo in the skies, that odd whirring and the flashing lights. Again she could see nothing wrong, so Meredith, whose life had fallen back into its ordinary routine, went back to sleep without a second thought. The next morning she rose and prepared for a meeting with her new Professor, Professor Hargreaves had been gone so long they decided to replace him. She picked up the books, the ones she had left in Hargreaves' office and the one she had claimed off the Doctor, and left the house, putting her umbrella up against the rain, barely noticing the blue box sat on the pavement across the road from her front door.

"Hello again." A voice called out as she started down the hill. She span precariously on the slick pavement and he dashed over to catch her elbow in case she fell.

"I'm fine." She snapped, pulling her arm away. Then she looked at the man who had caught her. "You again?!"

"Yes, yes, keep finding myself back here, as if something is drawing me." He scratched the back of his head. "See, it's a bit odd really. I've been having a bit of trouble, and every time I come to find some help, well, I find you."

"Well, I don't think that's odd. It's more like stalking if you ask me."

"Oh. OH! No, no that's not it at all. I'm terribly sorry if I've given that impression Meredith. But, would you mind terribly coming with me to see if you can help. My office is just over there." He gestured behind them.

"Oh, you work in the Accommodation Office." She said, thinking that that made the most sense for how he kept finding her, and only noticing the student's amenities office behind them.

"What? Oh, no, near there currently, but no I'm not campus staff. Here let me." He took the books off her and walked away. She stared for a second, and then hurried after him.

He stopped just outside the blue box that she had walked past twice without noticing and snapped his fingers. He winked at her and walked inside.

"But, that's a phone box… it won't hold two of us." She said as she stopped.

"Come on, you're letting the rain in, hurry up." He called his voice seeming to echo. She frowned and walked up to the door. She stepped inside and saw him click his fingers. As the doors swung shut the student running out of his house heard a cry of "but it's bigger on the inside!" with a peal of laughter entwined in the words.


	2. Chapter 2

HUGE apologies, the creative juices wouldn't run over the summer and it took me ages to finish this... although now I have finished the next chapter as well, so watch out for that soon. Hope you like this, and as usual don't own any of it, its all the BBC's and, for a limited time now, RTD's. Except of course Lilith, who is all mine, and William Marshal, who belongs to English History. Again, sorry about any historical inaccuracies, if you've got a specific niggling point, please let me know and I'll do my best to correct it :) enjoy C x

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"How? What is this?" she asked as she walked around, staring at the golden knobbed ceiling.

"This is a TARDIS, stands for Time And Relative Distance In Space, and it's my Time Machine." He said proudly, watching her carefully as he flicked a couple of switches on the huge board that encircled the central pillar. She looked at him askance.

"A time machine? Really?" He nodded.

"How long is it since I first met you?"

"Three weeks."

"I only met you yesterday."

"But that's impossible."

"Well, not impossible, more, improbable. I would usually ask before I did this, and I would usually ask where you'd like to go, but I really have to go and sort something out before all of history gets irreversibly changed."

"Right, ok, say I believe that this tin can, optical illusion thing can actually travel through space."

"But it can, and time too." He looked at her, scratching his head again perplexed that she didn't believe him. To be fair to him, most people believed him as soon as they saw the inside of the TARDIS.

"Of course it does. Look, I hope you get the help that you need, but I have a meeting about my paper. It's due soon and I just can't get a handle on it."

"Your paper, that would be based on William Marshal? How about meeting him to find out what you're stuck with?"

"Yeah, right, this is starting to something like _Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure._" The box shook for a minute. "So there's a couple of teenagers outside shaking the box? Real slick." The shaking stopped and he walked to the door.

"You sure it's teenagers? Or is there a tiny part of your mind that thinks maybe he's telling the truth, and if he is what's out there now?" she looked at him, a slight flicker going across her face telling him that he was, in part, right.

"Go on then, open the door." He grinned, an infectious grin that she found she was sharing. He leaned forward and pushed the door wide. "Lilith, welcome to France circa 1173. Henry the Young King is rebelling against his father Henry II. This isn't quite where we're supposed to be, but I thought the sidelines of a battle field might just convince you. Go out and look left I think." She walked out slowly.

"There's nothing there, _Doctor_" she said mildly scathingly. As he replied to her she heard crashing and yelling behind her and was slowly turning.

"What? That can't be right." He stuck his head out and started to look around. "Ohhh, look right not left. Sorry bout that." He watched her, a little smugly as she took a couple of steps closer. "So, do you believe me now?"

"This, that's." she stammered, turning back to him. "It's impossible. I've never seen a re-enactment so, so real. The King's there, and that's Couer de Lion's banner, and John Lackland… this is real, isn't it? That really is a time machine." She stared at him with awe in her face.

"Yes, yes it is a time machine," he glanced behind them. "And it's time to leave."

"But, I want to see how it ends."

"Easy, stalemate. But we have to move because William Marshal is about to lead his knights over this hill."

"But we're here to see him. But then you said we were too early, and forty knights on horseback…"

"Would probably crush us. Come on, let's go forward a bit." She pulled the door shut behind her and it creaked as she did so, a warm familiar creak. His hands were flying over the knobs on his console, until he flicked one, pushed another and dived over to stop another popping back up. As he was stretched across the console, stretching his suit trousers tight across his butt, he muttered, "Hopefully we'll end up in the right time this time." The shuddering she now recognised as the TARDIS moving through time stopped with a lurch.

"So, where are we now?" she asked, her voice sounding a little like Tigger on helium.

"Well, it could be Mars in the 32nd Century, they built some nice Botanical Gardens in that century, or we could be in New New York on New Earth in the 44th Century, been there a lot recently, too many Cats. Or we could have landed on Raxicoricophalatatorius. Think I may have to go there some point soon, possibly been called up as a witness in a court case. The Slitheen family, very smelly mess. Took weeks to fumigate 10 Downing Street. After they rebuilt it of course." He heard a slight strangling noise and glanced at Lilith. She was staring at him, again, she seemed to do that a lot. This particular time she looked a bit stunned, her eyes were wide and her lower jar was slightly ajar. "Right, sorry, too much information. We're not on any of those planets. Or those centuries."

"So where are we then?"

"We are in 1199 near, hopefully, Chepstow Castle. Shall we open the door?" it was hard not to laugh at him, he was bouncing around like a kid in a candy store. He snapped his fingers and the door swung open reveal a marvellous view of the sea, over the smart new looking stone crenulations pressed tight against the entrance. "Oh. It's never done that before." He leapt to the door and peered out. "That is not good. Um, how are you at climbing?" As he peered worriedly over the edge a booming voice echoed into the TARDIS.

"Sir Doctor, do you require assistance?"

"My lord Marshal! I appear to have parked rather badly. If you could, with a few strong men, turn me about I would be most grateful. I of course do not mind the climb, but I have brought a lady cousin of mine and I fear she would fare badly."

"I shall see to it immediately. And I shall inform Lady Isabelle of your cousin…"

"Lady Lilith."

"I'll inform my wife of Lady Lilith's arrival."

"Thank you my lord." He shut the door quickly. "He can't see inside, spoilers. Now, you need to go and change. Door at the back on the right. Go three floors up, take the fourth door on the left and go one floor down. On that corridor take the fifth on the right. Pick something to wear."

"What? It's how big? I didn't catch all that, why up and then back down?"

"Well you can't meet Lady Isabelle Marshal of Pembroke in those clothes. Oh, sorry she isn't of Pembroke yet, just Striguil… what is Striguil?" he tailed off.

"It's Chepstow." She told him quickly.

"Right, that makes sense. William Marshal hasn't been named Earl of Pembroke yet, and he's even farther away from gaining the castle itself. So don't mention it. I'll explain later. As to the rest the TARDIS is larger on the inside; it's like a 10 floor apartment block back there. I said go up three floors and back down because there are things you shouldn't see in the space you're missing out. Now go on." He grinned again as she headed off in the direction he had indicated.

She went up four floors instead of three, but remembered to go down two floors instead of one in the next stairwell and found herself in a huge room, large enough to be a ballroom, filling with racks of women's clothes and full length mirrors. The room sparkled in a myriad of colours in silks and satins, sequins and gold threads. She walked to the closest rack and ran her fingers through the mix of textiles slowly. Looking back towards the door she noticed a plan of the room, which she realised was an overgrown closet. She scanned it quickly and found the era she was looking for and went to see what she could find that fit her in those racks walking with a distant smile on her face, for all her ordinary clothes she did love the finer clothes, just couldn't afford it on her ordinary wage. This was an image of heaven on Earth.

She returned to the console room and entered just as the Marshal's men lifted the TARDIS and wobbled it round on the walkway, thus destroying her hopes of a dramatic entrance in her new attire as she stumbled across the threshold.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note. I apologise in advance for any mistakes, this is unbeta'd and I whilst I have checked it, it's probably still got mistakes. This is the last whole chapter that I've currently got of this, I will update when I can though. Don't own the fictional or the non-fictional characters, they either belong to the BBC or to history, and I hope I'm not doing them too great an injustice, because I rather like William Marshal. Enjoy, review please forgive historical inaccuracies, suspend disbelief etc, it _is_ fiction after all C x**

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A hush fell over the room as William Marshal strode into his main chamber, the familiar figure of the Doctor behind him, and again behind him a young raven haired woman walked a little timidly, glancing around at everything in awe. Isabelle rose slowly and gracefully as her husband stopped in front of her.

"My lady, Sir Doctor has returned, as promised. And he has brought a young lady of his family with him, the Lady Lilith. I predict he is seeking a husband for her."

"Ah no, I'm afraid not my Lord. Although, which of your sons would you be willing to wed her?" The Doctor smiled broadly at the two lads of less than ten playing duels in the corner with wooden swords. Isabelle smiled quietly, glancing towards Lilith as she blushed at the implication. William guffawed as Isabelle replied:

"Well, I think that Richard would be better suited to her, he's a little more attuned to people's feelings, but William is the older." Lilith's eyes widened a little. "Oh, dear, I'm terribly sorry, I was but teasing." Isabelle advanced to Lilith and took her hands in his. "I am pleased to meet you, we were beginning to think that my dear Sir Doctor travelled through life alone."

"Ah, my lady, I have a many friends in a myriad of different places, but none of them wish to travel with me. I am conveying Lady Lilith to her marriage, and I thought I would see how things are progressing here. As you asked my Lord Marshal, I thought I would see what you would be willing to offer." He grinned cheekily, making light of the fact that they were there for a specific reason.

"Well, Sir Doctor, Lady Lilith, be welcome in our house. Now if you'll excuse me, my youngest is probably hungry." Isabelle left the hall quietly, beckoning the bulk of her household to come with her. In the ensuing confusion, Lilith grabbed the Doctor's wrist and pulled him close to whisper in his ear.

"What's going on?" he turned his body to face her, drawing her a little closer. He was almost a head taller than her and he glanced around the room with sharp eyes. "It's 1199? When in 1199?"

"It's May 13th 1199."

"Then they should be in Normandy. Why aren't they?"

"And that's why we're here. King Richard has just died, and William Marshal is on the edge of changing history. At the moment he's more inclined to back Richard's nephew Arthur. Someone has poisoned William Marshal against John." She stared at him.

"_**That's not so hard, John can manage it easily on his own. How can he do it? William Marshal recognises that Arthur is an untrained brat led by his mother, who dislikes the bulk of the English nobility. Who is poisoning his ear?"**_

"I don't know. That's the problem. Or rather that's my problem. I don't know what happens to the future if Arthur marries, he disappeared."

"His life isn't supposed to continue. He can't be King of England, who knows the havoc that could wreak." Lilith looked worriedly at William who was in conference with one of his men. "I need to talk to Jean d'Earley. Marshal trusted him with his life and his children. If anyone can convince him that John should be King, it's him."

"I'll see what I can do, but this is a man's world. It may be tricky." Lilith laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure it can't be that difficult for you my dear Doctor. Surely you can do anything." She fluttered her eyelashes. "Except perhaps this." She teased. The Doctor watched as she walked up to William. "My lord, I wish to thank you for your hospitality. It is more than anything I could have expected. But I have heard tell of a great friend of yours, a knight in your mesnie, a Jean d'Earley. Is he present in the keep?"

"He is yes, although we are estranged. He is, in disagreement with me over the choice of the next heir. He believes that John Lackland is the better choice. But John has brought naught but pain and suffering to this household. With Arthur we have a blank slate, someone we can mould to our ideal king. Jean does not see this. He says that a 12 year old would make the court and the country unstable. He stays in the keep out of respect and duty to me and mine. You can find him across the way, he dines in the kitchens." Lilith had listened carefully to everything William had said. It was hard not to. When she had read the descriptions of him she had thought that they must be an overstatement, now she found that if anything they were an understatement as he hulked over her. She did however make sure that she showed no emotion, no opinion. This, she had decided was important. It was like playing poker, she couldn't show her hand until the game had finished.

"Thank you my lord, I have a young nephew soon to be of apprenticing age, I wish to know his opinion of a certain honourable man and his household, to decide if they are suitable as his adopted family during his apprenticeship." She could feel the Doctor's eyes on her, a tone of disapproval as she layered the flattery on the 6" 5' Lord before her. William chortled magnanimously.

"I hope that you find the opinion you seek my lady. I will steal your cousin from you for a time. Ask Jean to show you to my lady's day rooms when you are through." She nodded, glancing at the Doctor as she left the room.

The kitchens were easy to find, she just followed her nose to the source of the baking bread which covered all of the other smells which she was sure would be less than pleasant. She walked in as confidently as she could, lifting the hem of her heavy woollen dress.

"Who be you?" a robust, red cheeked lady called out.

"I'm Lady Lilith. I'm a guest of your Lord's, I seek Jean d'Earley."

"Well, you found him. He's through yon door." The woman pointed behind her with a wooden spoon. "I've work to do." As Lilith edged through the room she spoke again. "You're the one who came with my lord Doctor. You don't fit here. The blue's a good colour for you." The wooden spoon pointed at her. "This be the centre of the keep for gossip. You need anything, you come back here, ask for Aggie." Lilith looked bemused at the woman who added "that's me deary, now scat."

"You're not Welsh." Lilith said as she reached the door.

"No deary, but me husband is. Scat now, get on wi' you I've work to be doing."

Lilith did as she was bid and pushed aside a tattered burgundy curtain to enter the small dining hall beyond.

"Jean d'Earley?" she asked timidly, addressing the man sat at the table.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm Lilith, a friend of the, I mean, Sir Doctor's, well a relative of Sir Doctor. That's beside the point. I have need of your help."


End file.
